Delegation from Musaler heads to Armenia

A delegation of 30 Armenians from Vagf village (a church-backed territory), a single fully Armenian-populated village in modern Turkey, has headed to Armenia marking the 95th anniversary of the heroic battles at Musa Ler (Musa Dag) when Armenians stood in defense of their lives amid the mass killings and genocide that spread across Turkey and resulted in more than 1,5 million deaths among civil Armenian population (and Greeks, Assyrians as well) in 1915s. 

Chairman of the Musa Ler Community, Mr Pearch Kazarian told reporters at the new conference Wednesday that Armenians from Vagf village organised a campaign to protest the Mass at the Surb Khach Church (St Cross Church) in Ahtamar without a cross on the dome of the church.

“On September 19, a delegation from Vagf village headed to Armenia to mark their protest against the Mass at the Surb Khach Church without a cross on Church’ dome,” said Mr Kazarian.

Musa Ler Community Secretary Vardges Mardirian who is a Vagf-native, said in his turn that there are 20-30 houses in the village. The villagers are mostly engaged in gardening and grow peaches, however, due to complicated living conditions, the young adults have to leave for Istanbul for earnings. “However, they always come back to the village for the summer festivities,” said Mardirian.

Prof. Eduard Minasian from the Faculty of History of the Yerevan State University said in his historical review on heroic battles at Musa Ler that “this is one of the best pages of our heroism,” which became an example for following generations including of the WWII-era times.

A member of the Youth Wing of the Musa Ler Community, Hovhannes Balabanian said that a Musaler web-site had been opened. He called for all heirs of Musaler-natives to connect via the web-site.